Most Indian civic bodies have been killing stray dogs for decades, some since the
last century. The concept was directly imported from the developed countries without any understanding of the very different
urban conditions in the third world. In developing countries such as India, where exposed garbage and slums encourage the
existence of strays, killing or removing stray dogs has proved completely ineffective in controlling rabies or the dog
population. This is because dogs removed are easily replaced

Dogs have extremely high breeding rates. According to one estimate, two dogs can multiply to over 300 (over a few generations)
in three years. They are also highly territorial, with each dog having its fixed niche

Here is what happens when dogs are taken away:

Their territories become vacant and dogs from neighbouring areas move in to
occupy them

The dogs who escape the catching squads also continue to multiply, so the
territorial vacuums are soon filled again

Dog fights increase, since every time a new dog enters a territory he is attacked
by the dogs already in the neighbourhood

Dog fights continue to take place over mating

Dog bites also increase, as during dog fights many humans get accidentally
bitten

Rabies continues to spread to humans, since none of the dogs is vaccinated

Rabies continues to spread because the dog-catchers are reluctant to pick up a
rabid dog–so only healthy dogs get killed

As long as exposed garbage and slums continue to exist, dog-killing programmes cannot
work. They only create an unstable, constantly changing, rapidly multiplying and rabies-carrying dog population

In Mumbai in the late 1980s and early 1990s, there were about 50 human rabies deaths every year in spite of a large scale
dog-killing programme. Government sources claim that over half of human rabies deaths are caused by unvaccinated pets, so the
killing of strays had no impact on human rabies